Friday, 31 July 2015

Terror has been promoted by Arab governments and now the Palestine Authority for over a century. Thousands of Israelis such as this long forgotten bus driver have been victims of Arab terror. If some Jews are not to be tempted to take individual justice on innocent Arabs, then justice must be seen to be served on Arab perpetrators.

Updated August 2nd 2015:
The media, UN even the State Department are having a
field day condemning Israel. Finally they've got another atrocity
allegedly by 'settlers' (i.e. the indigenous Jews of Judea and
Samaria) to lambast the Jewish State with.

Israel's politicians as usual fall
headlong into the trap and are scrambling to outdo each other with
the sack cloth and ashes, even invoking the Holocaust!

Someone needs to step back and take
stock, which is what I am about to do.

This was a murderous attack, probably
but not definitely by Jews. Plenty of Arabs read and write Hebrew to
a high level, and it won't be the first time village feuds have
been blamed on Jews.

But even if it was Jew who threw that
fire-bomb we as friends of Israel have to step back and consider a
number of things, without of course intending in any way to justify
this attack on innocent Arabs:

Why has this one murder so
energized the international community when daily atrocities against
the Jews of Judea and Samaria pass without notice?

The BBC let the Fogel family atrocity
pass until Israel made a reprisal raid. Eden Atias slaughtered by an
Arab while he slept on a bus is still unknown to BBC audiences ditto
baby Adele Biton and Shelley Dadon, a young woman dragged into an
orchard, raped and murdered by an Arab on the way to work last year.
These were Jews and not worthy of world notice, sympathy or
understanding.

What were the antecedents to this
attack?

Where Arab criminals, terrorists and their
foreign instigators such as the foreign nationals of ISM are allowed
to feel immune to Israel's forces of law and order, to perpetrate the whole gamut of crimes against innocent Israelis wherever they can be found, and especially in Israel's ancient homelands of Judea and Samaria it is obvious
that the conditions for Jewish vigilantiism to fester and grow are
being met.

Where Jews such as three year old Adele
Biton who succumbed to her injuries (after an Arab's rock throwing caused the car she was traveling in to crash) can not travel the
roads without being in danger of death at the hands of an Arab
terrorist anger in the community is bound to grow to such an extent
that some amongst them will however wrongly take the law into their
own hands.

If the vigilantes took the life of a
terrorist then their action would be understandable e.g in light of
the fact that 6 Jews have to date been killed by Arab terrorists
freed in the Gilad Shalit deal.

That the blood of Jews has become so
cheap an Arab can reckon on spending only a few years in jail for
murder is a continuing outrage against any sense of decency. Arabs contemplating terror know that whilst in prison he will be paid a handsome salary,
his family will receive benefits, and he will be appointed to a paid
position commensurate with the seriousness of his terror act once he
gets out of an Israeli jail.

An Arab who murders a Jew rarely serves the prison sentence given to him which exasperates the citizens of
Israel who demand that Arabs who attack Jews must serve their
sentences.

The Jews who may have killed the Arab
child in Duma may reason that in the absence of justice for Arab
terrorists, they will take the law to them. If they can not find a
terrorist to kill, then any Arab will serve the purpose. This is not
seen as being a civilized way of non-Arabs to behave nowadays but
Arab culture fully accepts this reasoning. If someone from your
village kills someone from mine then I have the right / duty to kill
someone from yours. Ditto with a family killing. Arab culture is
seeped to the very core with blood and feuds can be carried on for
centuries. Let us not even get into the domain of 'honor killing'.

So Arabs understand when someone from
another tribe or family or village will take bloody revenge. They
just object when Jews do it. Jews as Christians are after all Dhimmis with no right to life or property,
still less any claim to waging a blood feud with Arab muslims.

So did anyone from the Arab village
murder a Jew for those Jews to wish to take revenge on someone from
their village. It would be interesting to find out?

Giulio Meotti has today written that not far from this village a Jewish hiker was murdered, a name that never made the headlines in the West that counts only the very few real Arab victims of Jews, and has no interest in the steady stream of Jews who have been foully murdered.

"Not far from where an Arab child was killed last week, Arab terrorists killed a Jewish girl, Tirza Porat, while she was on a hike. She was the first Israeli civilian to die in the first Intifada. The Western press and many Israeli journalists blamed her for not staying away “from restive Palestinian villages”. Not a word of condemnation of Arab leaders for encouraging 5-year-olds to join mobs throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, but they condemned Tirza for being victimized. Nobody remembers her name. "

In any case we as a civilized society
reject blood feuds, but Britain when dealing with Palestinian Arabs
1936-39 did blow up houses in villages from where terrorists emerged
and summarily executed Arab terrorists found with arms. The RAF
machine gunned suspected terrorists from the air whilst the army
implemented a harsh regime:

as
“destroying villages, carrying off livestock and trampling down
crops and so

on,”
already well established in irregular “small” wars against
guerrillas by the

time
Callwell wrote his book, were used in the Boer War (1899–1902),
during

the
Egyptian and Iraqi revolts (1919–20), in India, and during the
Irish War of

Independence
(1919–21).

3

In the
1930s, Major General Sir Charles Gwynn

and
Colonel H. J. Simson—the latter served in Palestine during the
revolt—

developed
Callwell’s lessons, applying them to imperial hot spots such as

Palestine
and arguing that such situations required firm military rule.

Rather than Israel's leaders tearing their hair over the rare incidence of Jewish terror, they should be learning from how the British suppressed Arab terror in the 1930's, revisit their failed policies which see Arabs terrorizing Jews, Christians and others throughout Israel, and of course in Jerusalem and Judea-Samaria.
Jews can no longer walk onto their ancient cemetery on the Mount of Olives for fear of Arab attack. Hundreds of graves have been desecrated with rubbish and smashed to pieces.
Tourists visit the Mount of Olives now in fear of their lives from Arab rock throwers.
Jews are regularly attacked on the Temple Mount.

Israel has lost its grip on Arabs bent on its destruction. The human rights of Arab terrorists take precedence over peaceful Jews.
I can understand that antisemitic leaders of Western governments led by the Obama-Kerry duo will howl at Israel at every opportunity.
But why must Rivlin, Herzog and even Netanyahu make public displays of contrition calling for the whole of Israel to be ashamed for the actions of a few errant Jews who represent nobody but themelves?
How can Israel's leaders be complicit in the western media led demonisation of Israel's public?

Is it fair to demonize the whole Judea-Samarian community?

Representatives of Jews in Judea-Samaria have overwhelmingly condemned this attack on the Arab family. We need to keep perspective that whereas Palestinian Arabs constantly incite for murder of Jews, all the Jews of Yesha wish for is peace to get on with their lives in their ancestral homelands. That never happens though. The Palestinian Authority and its media incite against Israel and Jews, rarely disguising their wish to destroy Israel utterly.

If the Jewish State wishes to stop
revenge killings by a few misguided individuals then the root of the
problem must be addressed, the feelings of Jews of Judea and Samaria
that they are targets in an Arab firing range, picked off at will and
having to live in a state of terror for many years now.

Hardly a day
goes by without another Arab terror attack, most of which such as the
rock throwings on the Mount of Olives and attacks on Jews there go on
unhindered by police.

The increasing Arab terror in
Judea-Samaria must be suppressed if harmonious relations between the
communities are to be restored.

Arab terrorists need to know that if
they do survive arrest, which should never be a certain thing, they
will have to pay their debt to Jewish society in an uncomfortable
prison cell, not one where they can take masters degrees paid for by
the Jews they wish to annihilate.

A beginning in restoring security to the Israeli public is to relax the rules on Israelis opening fire against their attackers. Rather than doing their utmost to arrest attackers, the stress must be on doing their utmost to keep themselves and their peers safe. The Arab terrorist's life must the the lowest of priorities when considering arrest options.

We also need to realize that Palestinian Arab society which celebrates children only as far as they have future value in being 'martyrs' in attacks on Jews, is not shocked by the violent death of a child. The only regret in their evil society is that the child did not take Jewish lives with it on the way to paradise.

We whilst regretting that a human life, even that of an enemy has been taken, should not weep overly much for a child intended to grow in a system of overarching antisemitic indoctrination intended to use education to teach how to harm Jews in ever more fiendish ways.

Rather than join in the chorus of world
condemnation and visit families of enemy Arabs, Mr Rivlin and
Netanyahu should show the community of Judea and Samaria that they
are also cared for, and loved. Yesha Jews are carrying out the heroic
task of defending the densely populated coastal region around
Tel-Aviv frequently at the cost of their lives whilst normally exercising the utmost
restraint.

The least the indigenous Jews of Judea and Samaria can expect is support
from Israel's politicians at a time when the world is baying for
their blood.

We can expect nothing from a world which even as Islamic terror is being stepped up throughout western countries and which is conducting terror operations on a world wide basis now, is every ready to condemn Israel.

Israel's leaders must learn the lesson of Gaza that when Jewish homes and villages are sacrificed, Tel-Aviv, Ashdod and Jerusalem are next in the firing line.

Friday, 10 July 2015

It has emerged that Hamas has kidnapped two Israelis who deliberately crossed the border from Israel for unknown reasons. One is a beduin and one is an Ethiopian Jew who is said to have psychological problems.

We hope that both of these men will be returned as soon as possible, but hopefully not after Israel paying a Gilad Shalit style ransom for them. That ransom in terms of over a thousands Arab Jew killers only happened because the family of Shalit mounted an excellent media campaign that tugged at the heart strings of Israelis.

It was obvious at the time that the price paid for freeing Shalit would be dead Israelis in new terror campaigns afterwards, and that has come true. Many of those freed have been conducting terror operations from within Israel. Outside of Israel Hamas has its headquarters now in Turkey a NATO memnber and is directing terror against Israel from there.

The European Union and USA is quiet about Hamas organising terror from Turkey yet is never lost for words when Israel builds a home for the indigenous Jews of Judea and Samaria.

It is sad that one of the brothers of Avraham Mengistu has used the racism card against Israel already. Thankfully the rest of Avraham's family have not stooped to such a disgraceful level.

Netanyahu must not give in to moral blackmail whilst acting to return these unfortunates home.

The first action on the part of the government should be to re-arrest as many of the terrorists freed in exchange for Shalit and make it clear that they will remain in prison until the two hostages are returned to Israel.

It should also be made clear that there will be no more deals, only that every time Israel's loyal citizens are kidnapped the price will be the re-arrest of those previously freed.

Democracies must take the gloves off in this merciless war being waged against them by Islamic terrorists.

Israel must lead the way, not by sacrificing its soldiers and citizens in ever more asinine ways to spare the enemie's human shields but in the robustness of its response to attacks.

Let us hope this new government will show a new mettle in dealing with the terror entities surrounding it.

Monday, 6 July 2015

The question of the Syrian Druze recently climbed to the top of Israel's priorities, eclipsing
even the ongoing disastrous handling by Obama and European powers of Iran's race for nuclear weapons (As I write this US Secretary of State Kerry is doing his best to paint his 'Peace in Our Time' surrender as not being a done deal, that the USA will supposedly walk away from a bad deal with Iran. But most of the major concessions have been made already from not insisting that Iran owns up to allowing it to use new and ever faster uranium processing centrifuges, ignoring past work on nuclear weapons development and not demanding snap inspections of suspected Iranian nuclear installations and military bases).

Israelis are rightly worried that our blood brothers the Druze in Israel should not see their kith and kin wiped out in an islamist genocide next door in Syria.

Some normally level headed researchers such as Mordechai Kedar have however demanded that Israel drop its neutrality vis-a-vis Syria and actively intervene to establish a new order in that country along Israel's border a policy that although undoubtedly well intentioned is fraught with danger.

Two years ago before the recent crisis I saw the need for Israel to become more involved in helping the Druze take the future into their own hands.

This does not mean however that Israel should simply march into Syria and carve out the Druze homeland for them as Mr Kedar seems to be implying.

“Israel must, and I repeat, must, do everything and even beyond everything, to help the Druze minority in Syria survive as it faces the Islamist forces who intend to destroy it. ”

Israel must learn the lessons of its history, not least of its having been sucked into Lebanon in 1982 by Christians who promised an alliance and armed help to Israel in ending the reign of terror by the PLO in that country. Israel was however betrayed by the phalangists who after pulling Israel in let Israel do their dirty work, and the dying. The only time the phalangists emerged out of the woodwork was to commit a revenge massacre in Sabra and Shatila, and then let Israel take the world's opprobrium.

Just as the Christians of Lebanon were no friends to Israel, and had no strategic sense in betraying the one democracy that would ensure their own survival, the Druze of Syria are not friends of Israel, but rather bitter enemies. Druze in Syria have loyally staffed the Assad regime's army and committed or attempted to commit terror atrocities against Israel even as late as this present year 2015.

We must remember that Samir Kuntar the heinous child murderer who first killed a 3 year old girl's parents in front of her and then bashed her head on a rock is a druze. Now a senior Hezbollah official he is a welcome guest amongst the Syrian Druze and has recently been active organizing Hezbollah's second front against Israel on the Golan Heights. Kuntar's fingerprints are believed to also bee all over the Druze ambulance attack in Israel.

Early this year Israel managed to eliminate a Druze terror squad attempting to lay an ambush for IDF soldiers along Israel's Golan border.

The writing might be on the wall for Syrian Druze but this tight knit community has as yet not been reading the script. The Syrian Druze are still very much in the pocket of Assad and whether or not they are ready to change is a moot point.

Assad is desperate for Israel to become involved in his conflict to act as a lighting rod for his regime. Once Israel were to invade the jihadist groups would unite and attack the IDF giving Assad a much needed reprieve.

And this is very probably the reason for the Druze attack on an Israeli ambulance in which an injured Syrian rebel being transferred for treatment in an Israeli hospital was murdered. This attack was made not so much by irate Druze on rebels who had just committed a massacre of their people, but as a Syrian-Iranian operation to undermine the Israeli-Druze alliance and enmesh Israel in the Syrian quagmire.

Druze murdering rebels being treated in Israel would be a sure way for organized rebel attacks on Druze villages to begin. Despite some sporadic forced conversions to islam and a massacre (that al Nusrah apologized for) the Druze are not yet in imminent danger.

Assad is not interested in the welfare of the Druze but in harming Israel and in his Alawite Shia survival which is becoming questionable in light of the continuing collapse of the Syrian army and the never ending cost in SAA, Hezbollah and IRGC lives. Iran has lost two generals this year in Syria, one of them held the highest army rank, and the Syrian army is believed to have all but disintegrated. Iran and Hezbollah have had to pick up the slack and are dying in the process.

By maintaining its neutrality in the Syrian conflict whilst enforcing its red lines, Israel has so far managed to keep the Golan border quiet and the Syrian Druze safe.

We don't know how long this will continue but when the Syrian Druze finally realize that they have no future allied to Assad, then will be the time for Israel to act in helping the Druze establish a redoubt along Israel's border and establish a militia along the lines of the former South Lebanon Army.

The quid pro quo would be for Druze of the former Syria to renounce their former ties and ally themselves with Israel by joining the blood covenant of their brother Druze in israel. This will be a major psychological hurdle to overcome, and Israel should not intervene further to help Syrian Druze until this happens.
The time for this not yet come. Druze are still loyal to Assad.

The biggest sign that the Netanyahu government is following a judicious policy is that Israel's Druze community refuses to be drawn into Assad's plan, does not ask for any Israeli intervention in Syria on behalf of their bretheren. The Israeli Druze leaders are fully supportive of the present government policy.

“The leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Moafaq Tarif, strongly denounced the attack.
“Of course we condemned everything that happened. Our tradition and religion are against harming an injured person or an ambulance. This is not our way, not our education… and we hope you will continue to lead this whole affair wisely. We are at your service,” Tarif said.”

“Ayoub Kara, deputy minister of regional development and a Druze, said all Israelis identify with the concerns over the danger faced by Druze in Syria, but there was no excuse for attacking the ambulance.

“To my regret, we as Druze lost Israel’s sympathy because of this grave and unnecessary attack, which has no place in a country ruled by the law,” Kara said.”

Israel is proceeding wisely in for the present must maintaining its hands off policy in Syria and not allowing Assad and his Iranian backers to have Israel save them from the plight they are now facing.

The loyal Druze of Israel refuse to be used as tools by Assad and Syrian Druze for their nefarious ends.
Nonetheless Israel will continue to protect the Syrian Druze even as it is fully cognizant of their continuing attempts to harm the Jewish State.

Netanyahu is no fool and refuses to be drawn into the Syrian quagmire in order to save Assad's neck. That is what Iran is there for and it will be to Iran and its catspaw Hezbollah that the Alawites need to look for help.